Portable brushing and nap-raising attachment for carpet cleaning machines



Dec. 22, 1953 J. D. CONWAY 2,663,045

' PORTABLE BRUSHING AND NAP-RAISING ATTACHMENT I FOR CARPET CLEANINGMACHINES Filed March 4, 1950 4 8; 656A, 6?: 1 VENTOR.

48 2195RPM DCONWAY 47 M M I Fm, 5

ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 22, 1953 .PORIEABLE BRUSHING AND NAP RAISING ATTACHMENTFOR CARPET CLEANING MACHINES Joseph. :Gonway, Cleveland ..-He ights,.Ohio Application March'A, 1950, 'Serial'No. 147,603

1 Therpresent' invention relates to rug-and 'carpet 'felearfingapparatus; and more particularly; 450 a power driven-apparatus forrenovating the nap view -of the development o'f'portable scru bibing and"-lathering machines, *much of the 'rug and carpetcleaning -which is"now per-formed l'iaikes place on the-premises where the" carpet lies.Formerly it had been the practice to remove earpetsirom thenoor and-eendthem to commercia restablishments to= be cleaned. The portableenewingmachines do a highly satisffactory {fob of' cieaning' and obviate 1 thenecessity of' remov ing the ear-pet. v I

The carpet'which is-to he"cleaned has usually been "walked upon for a-='eonsiderable length of itim into the carpet. 'Ihw'scrubbing machinesc'anremove most l 'of thi s flirt, but in viewo'f the riat, mattedcondition of the pile and deep penetra- :1ti'on -of =the dirt, it is"desirable that the carpet receive some preiiminary itrea'tment "which:Wi ll serve- -to raise the {dirtcloser to the surface so thatit canberemoved'bythe:scrubbing machine.

#Siich treatmentshoals-e150 remove some of the dirtwan'dshould iniisethe'pile or nap efthe-carpe't 'fso thatthe action of-the=.scrubb'ingflnachine will =-n'ot :b'e nuliified by:-matted threadsand fibers. mhe apreserrt invention serves this purpose;

El'he use of the scrubbing machine onzthe carpet metsittne pile to :someextent and this wettin-g action plus l'the .f'h'orizon'tal :meohanicalzaction :of the-rotary scrirbbingr brush which is used again causesthe-pile zoranap ito flatten. 'Thissflattening Iii. mattingzof ."theinap.wm ro'c'cunmost frequently inlzdeep'rpile :carpets where: it Lis -mostundesirable and ispoils ethe -appearance 101' the carpet. The'apparatuseof myin-ven-tion' will serve to raisethis flattened napandrenew the appearance :of the carpet. v

-!Thus,'= it .is a ,primary object of my invention :to:providegpoweredriven .apparatus for restoring the new .of .carpets toraised condition both before .and'after thescriibbing operation.

' A further object of my inventionis to provide apparatus of thecharacter described, which will penetrate .the pile of aca'rp-et andraise "the ingraineddirt and grit toward the "surface where itcan' beacted' upon by 'a scrubbing machine.

m'iother 'object of myin-vention is to "provide apparatus wlrich' willbrush thenapof a pile fabric into an upright position-so that it will besoft and yi'elding. 1

ano'ther obj ect of my invention is to prowrifieaappar'atns i'off.Ethefchara'cter described-, -w-hieh d dirt anddust have been tread'deeply .16 Claims. (01. 15-328) n the power driven by the power unit ofthe scrubbing-apparatus.

"Afurther object of my invention-istoprovide such apparatus withreversing means so that its operation will be effectivewhether it bemoving forwardly or rearwardly.

Still another object of my invention is "toipro vide apparatus of thecharacter--dcscribejdywhich is light-weight, portable,andileiriblein-operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention 'will be apparent duringthe course or the following description.

In the accompanying? drawings forming apart of 'this specification, andin whidhiike numerals are employed to-designate like parts throughoutthe same,

"Fig. '1 "is a side elevation-eta nap brushing apparatus embodying the--fea'tures of myinvention, portions thereof --be"ing broken-a-WaytoShow details of construction.

"Fig. 2 is a "bottomplan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. '1, withcertain parts-removed or broken away to'clearly 'il'lustrate theinvention.

Fig. '3 is a fragmentarycross-sectional view of the-spline'd connectin-shaft. taken on line 'O'fFigJZ.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the coupling plate or the apparatus.

Fig. 5 is an elevational *view, partially in secition, showing "thebayonet-type connector -=w-hieh engages the coupling plate of Fig. 4.

- Referring more particularly to the drawings, the apparatus isrs'een'to comprise a housing "I having a top 2,-opposi'te1y disposed sidesSandi,

.andanarcuate closed end portion 5, wh ich form's the rear of thehousing.

A closed "chambert is formed in the housin '1 by m'eans of, anL-shapedpartition "I I which is :secured to the housing as by welding.The partition has a"horizontallyexten'ding portion 8 formin a bottom andhas a vertically extending sideportionfl which may be'secured, forpurposes'ofreinforcement, to a'transvers'e piece of angle iron 1 1Dwhich is'Welded'tothe underside of the "top 2. of the housing.

conventional form of motor driven exhaust ZblOWGI H "is mounted onthetop 2 of "the housing and extends into theehamber fi throughan opening1'2 which-is provided therefor 'i-r-1 the' top 2. "Thabl'Ower'is'eqnipped with a cloth dust collector or filter l'3 for a purpose tobe more fully described hereinafter.

The lportion o'f the housing 1 which 'lie's forward :of the :chamber '6is open :atthe bottom an'dain this iorwardxportion is monntedacyl'indrical brush I4 comprising bristles I5 which are set in a woodencore I8. One end of the brush has an axially extending stub shaft I!which is journalled in a bearing [8 which is secured to the side 4 ofthe housing I. The other end of the brush is provided with a squaresocket which is engaged by the square end [9 of a shaft which isjournalled in a bearing 2| in the side 3 of the housing.

A portion of the shaft 29 extends ex-teriorly of the housing I and hassecured thereto a sprocket 22 which is connected by roller chain 23 to asprocket 24 which is secured to a shaft 25.

The shaft 25 is journalled in a bearing 26 which is secured .to the side3 of the housing. The shaft 25 has a hollow portion 21 of enlargeddiameter which projects interiorly of the housing and which is providedwith longitudinally extending internal splines 28. The output shaft 29of a gear box or powertransmission 30 is provided with a splined portionSI which slidably engages the connector portion 21 of shaft 25.

The transmission case 30 is secured by means of bolts 32 to theunderside of the top 2 of housing I and its driving member has securedthereto an adapter plate 33 which in turn has rigidly secured thereto acoupling plate 34 which will be more fully described hereinafter. Anopening 35 is provided in the top 2 through which the adapter plate 33and coupling plate 34 project.

Secured to the sides 3 and 4 of the housing and extending therebetweenis a nozzle body 36 having a flared opening 31 which lies closelyadjacent to the brush I4 and parallel thereto. The nozzle 36 isconnected to the vacuum chamber 6 by means of a hose 38 one end of whichslidably connects to a fitting 39 on the nOZZle and the other end ofwhich slidably connects to a fitting 40 which is secured to the wall 9of the partition I. It will be understood that suitable openings areprovided in the nozzle 36 and wall 9 in alignment with fittings 39 and40 so that the nozzle communicates with the chamber 6.

Secured between the sides 4| of the nozzle 36 so as to be centrallypositioned in the opening 31 thereof is a stripper or comb 43 whichcomprises a body portion 44 which extends parallel to the brush I4 andin which are mounted teeth or pins 45 which project from the body 44 soas todiametrically intercept the bristles I5 of the brush l4.

Power means for actuating the brushing mechanism is provided by ascrubbing machine S which may be of the type disclosed in my UnitedStates Patent No. 2,217,617, granted October 8, 1940,

Such scrubbing machines are powered by an electric motor which serves torotate a circular brush in a horizontal plane, as described in detail insaid patent. The scrubbing brush is releasably secured to the motordriven spindle by means of a bayonet type of joint.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings I have shown the manner in which the machine Sis utilized to drive the nap raising apparatus. The rotating spindle 45of the scrubbing machine S has secured thereto for rotation therewith aconnector plate 41 which has three circumferentially spaced lugs or dogs48 extending radially outwardly therefrom. The dogs 48 are adapted topass through recesses 49 which extend radially outwardly from a centralopening 59 provided in the coupling plate 34, heretofore mentioned. Thecoupling plate has three circumferentially spaced legs 5| depending fromits under surface adjacent the opening 50, each leg being intermediatetwo of the recesses 49. The legs 5| rest upon and are secured to theadapter plate 33 which, as heretofore stated, connects with thetransmission train 39.

When the connector 41 is engaged with the coupling plate 34, the dogs 48abut the legs 5I thereby driving the coupling plate 34. The rotation ofthe coupling plate is transmitted through the gear box 30 to thesprocket 24 through the shafts 29 and 25, the gear box 39 serving tochange the axis of rotation from the vertical to the horizontal.

The brush I4 is thereby caused to .rotate at a suitable rate of speed,its direction of rotation being controlled by a shift lever 52 which isconnected to the shaft 29 so as to move it axially whereby to engage areversing gear as is well known in the art. The splined connectionbetween shaft 29 and shaft extension 2! of shaft 25 permits slidingmovement of shaft 29 in response to movement of shift lever 52.

The brush I4 is so mounted that the bristles I5 extend beyond theforward edges 53 of the sides 3, 4 of the housing I, and also extendwell below the bottom edge 54 of said sides. This positioning of thebrush allows the brush to be brought fairly close to walls or baseboardswhen the carpeting covers the floor completely from wall to wall of aroom.

In order to minimize the escape of dust or fibers from the apparatus, askirt 55 of rubber or the like is secured to the sides 3 and 4 near thebottom edge 54 thereof. Further, the front end of the housing I isclosed by a plate 56 which is-flanged as at 5'! and which is pivotallysecured to the sides of the housing so that it rests of its own weightupon the brush l4. The plate 56 is also provided with skirt 55. Forclarity of illustration, the skirt 55 is not shown in Fig. 2 of thedrawings.

In order to allow the apparatus to be moved easily over the rug surface,two swivel casters 58 are secured to the bottom 8 of partition I.Additionally, two transversely spaced rollers 59 which are rotatablymounted on an axle 60 are provided about midway between the brush I4 andthe casters 58. The ends of the axle 60 are rigidly secured in arms 6Iwhich in turn are rig-- idly secured to stub shafts 62 which arejournalled in bearings 63 in the sides 3 and 4 of the housing. One ofthe shafts 62 has an extension 64 on which is secured a lever 65 whichis provided with a spring-pressed knob 66 which is movable to bring apin or dowel portion 61 thereof into or out of contact with the side 4.An arcuate row of circular cavities 68 are provided in the side 4 in thepath of movement of the dowel 61 so that the lever 65 may be locked inany selected position. It will be apparent that manipulation of thelever 65 will cause the axle 60 to pivot about the axis defined byshafts 62 and thus raise or lower the rollers 59 relatively to floorlevel. Thereby the effective height of the brush I4 is adjusted so as togive satisfactory results on any thickness of carpet.

In operating the apparatus, the scrubbing brush, which is normallyconnected to the scrubbing machine S, is removed therefrom, and thescrubbing machine is placed on top of the housing I and connected to thecoupling plate 34 by means of the connector plate 41.

The dome-shaped casing of the scrubbing machine serves to enclose theconnection between the machine and coupling plate 34 and thus safeanaceaguatds the connection against injury as well as :preventing the-operator-from' bemg accidentally iniiur'ed by therapidly-rotating parts.Thedomesh'a'ped teasing also ser-ves as- =a shield 'against idirt,liquids, or falling obi'ectswliich might-possibfly injure the-conneetingparts if they' were f'exposed.

'-The -motor -of- -the-scrubbing==machine is *then started and the--blower -l-| is 'likewise" actuated. With the brush M revolvingclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 1, the apparatus tends to move forwardlyand is merely guided in that direction by the operator. The movement ofthe brush raises the nap or pile of the carpet and restores itsubs'rantially to its original appearance. Fibers which are picked up bythe revolving brush, are stripped from the brush by the teeth 45 of thecomb 43 and are drawn by the blower I I through nozzle 36 into chamber 6where they collect on the exterior of the bag or filter [3.

When the forward movement of the apparatus brings it up against a wallof the room, the shift lever 52 is manipulated to cause a reversal ofrotation of the brush [4 and the apparatus accordingly moves rearwardlyand can be guided over another area of carpet. Thus it is not necessaryto swing the apparatus around to change its direction of travel. I

The skirt 55 maintains any dust and fibers within the housing andthereby prevents their escape into the room proper.

The adjustable rollers 59 can be locked at the selected position whichwill bring the brush into proper relationship with the pile fabric whichis being renovated.

Thus it will be apparent that I have provided a light-weight portableapparatus which, in combination with a scrubbing machine can be utilizedto raise the nap of carpets and pile fabrics before a cleaning operationwhile simultaneously raising and partially removing ingrained dirt. Theapparatus is likewise used after completion of the scrubbing operationto raise the nap which may have become flattened or matted as aconsequence of the cleaning and scrubbing operation.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown anddescribed, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination of a nap-raising attachment for carpet cleaningmachines and an operating mechanism therefor; said operating mechanismconsisting of a housing, an operating handle provided on said housing,an electrical motor mounted within said housing, a vertical spindleextending from said motor, and a connector plate secured to said spindlefor rotation in a horizontal plane, said connector plate being adaptedto operatively engage a rotary carpet cleaning element; and saidnap-raising attachment comprising a housing, a brush supported in saidhousing for rotation about an axis at right angles to the axis ofrotation of said motor spindle, a gear box secured to said housing andoneratively connected to said brush, and a coupling plate operativelysecured to said gear box; sa d coupling plate being releasably securedto said connector plate to transmit rotary movement from said motor tosaid gear box, and said operating mechanism being supported above groundsever by therhousing ion-said :naperai'sing attacb ment.

A combination as i defined in laim 1-min which said housing or said nap-rai'singattachment is provided with: =g1-ound-enga=gin'g= wheels.

3. A combination as defined in claim 'l' in which an exhaust blower is"provided in said housing of said nap-raising attachment.

4:The combination-of "a nap-raising "attachment forzecarpet.cleaningmachines and an operating mechanism therefor; -said operating mech-.anism consisting of a housing,.a push han'dlaprovided on said housing,an electrical motor mounted within said housing, a spindle extendingvertically from said motor, and a connector plate secured to saidspindle for rotation in a horizontal plane, said connector plate beingadapted to operatively engage a rotary carpet cleaning element; and saidnap-raising attachment comprising a housing, a brush supported in saidhousing for rotation about an axis at right angles to the axis ofrotation of said motor spindle, a gear box secured to said housing and0peratively connected to said brush, and a coupling plate operativelysecured to said gear box and projecting exteriorly of said housing; saidcoupling plate projecting into the housing of said operating mechanismand being slidably and releasably secured to said connector plate, andsaid operating mechanism housing being supported above ground level bythe housing of said napraising attachment.

5. The combination of a nap-raising attachment for carpet cleaningmachines and an operating mechanism therefor; said operating mechanismconsisting of a housing, an operating handle Provided on said housing,an electrical motor mounted within said housing, a vertical spindleextending from said motor, and a connector plate secured to said spindlefor rotation in a horizontal plane, said connector plate being adaptedto operatively engage a rotary carpet cleaning element; and saidnap-raising attachment comprising a housing, a brush'supported in saidhousing for rotation about an axis at right angles to the axis ofrotation of said motor spindle, a gear box secured to said housin andoperatively connected to said brush, a coupling plate operativelysecured to said gear box, said coupling plate being releasably securedto said connector plate to transmit rotary movement from said motor tosaid gear box, and ground-engaging wheels adjustably mounted on saidattachment housing for movement in a vertical plane, and said operatingmechanism being supported above ground level by the housing of saidnap-raising attachment.

6. The combination of a nap-raising attachment for carpet cleaningmachines and an operating mechanism therefor; said operating mechanismconsisting of a housing, an operating handle provided on said housing,an electrical motor mounted within said housing, a vertical spindleextending from said motor, and a connector plate secured to said spindlefor rotation in a horizontal plane, said connector plate being adaptedto operatively engage a rotary carpet cleaning element; and saidnap-raising attachment comprising a housing, a brush supported in saidhousing for rotation about an axis at right angles to the axis ofrotation of said motor spindle, a gear box secured to said housing andoperatively connected to said brush, a coupling plate operativelyconnected to said gear box, said coupling plate being releasably securedto said connector plate to transmit rotary movement 7 from said motor tosaid gear box, and means mounted on said housing adjacent said brush forcleaning said brush in response to rotation thereof, and said operatingmechanism being supported above ground level by the housing of saidnap-raising attachment.

JOSEPH D. CONWAY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberNumber 8 Name Date- Hoover June 26, 1923 Hume May 19, 1925 Losey May 6,1930 Hampson Apr. 12, 1932 Ponselle July 19, 1932 Petersen Dec. 13, 1932Smellie May 12, 1936 Holt July 17, 1951

